


Voice Mail

by ofstormsandwolves



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-04 03:08:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10982097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofstormsandwolves/pseuds/ofstormsandwolves
Summary: Five times Jackie Tyler left a message on Rose's phone, and one time she didn't.





	Voice Mail

**Author's Note:**

> Third section dialogue taken from the Big Finish 10th Doctor Adventures volume 2 Audio Trailer

Ring, ring.

Ring, ring.

Ring, ring.

“ _Hi! You’ve reached Rose’s phone! I can’t speak right now_ -”

Jackie Tyler sighed, and braced herself to speak with her daughter’s answer phone rather than her daughter herself. As Rose’s cheerful message ended and the beep sounded, Jackie plastered on a strained smile and spoke.

“Hi, sweetheart. Just wanted to see how you are. I know you didn’t leave that long ago, only a couple of days. But it’s been quiet round here without you.” She paused. “Not had any more aliens in my kitchen, so I’ll take that as a good sign. An’ I hope that alien of yours is treatin’ you right. He is feeding you, isn’t he? Nothing alien? ‘Cause if he is, you can always come home. There’s always room for you here, love.” She paused. “Phone me later, sweetheart. Love you. Bye.”

As she ended the call, Jackie bit her lip. It had been just days since Rose had returned, after no contact for an entire year, and within twenty-four hours she’d been gone again. Vanished, once more, with that bloke with the leather jacket. The Doctor, Jackie knew he was called now. The Doctor. She wasn’t sure about him.

Rose seemed infatuated.

Well, she must be if she forgot to phone. In all her years, Rose had never forgot to contact Jackie if she was staying out late. Even if it was a quick text or a drunken phone call as she slurred out an “‘m stayin’ at Mickey’s, Mum. See ya tomorrow!” She had always let her know.   
Even when she’d started dating Jimmy Stone, she’d called after gigs, half-giggling in a taxi back to Jimmy’s place, hurriedly ending the call when he got a bit too frisky and she a bit too giggly. There’d been a brief period of time, when she’d lived with Jimmy, when Rose and Jackie hadn’t been in contact. But that hadn’t been due to a lack of remembering, it had been due to the row.

She’d been far too young to move out, just sixteen, but Rose had been adamant. Of course, by seventeen Rose was talking to her again, and by eighteen Rose had moved back home. Jimmy hadn’t been as great as he’d promised, and had dumped Rose for someone else, left her in debt, moved on with his life.

Jackie had seen it coming, of course. Rose had told her over half-whispered phone conversations late at night about how Jimmy seemed distant, how there were secret texts and phone calls he didn’t think she knew about. How he was hardly ever at their flat anymore, and whenever he was he mostly ignored her.

But despite all that, despite Rose’s perilous teenage years, and the arguments, and the late nights Rose had spent clubbing with Shareen and Keisha, there had always been contact.

That was, of course, until the Doctor.

~0~0~

Jackie glanced at her mobile as it lay on the kitchen worktop. She shouldn’t. She really shouldn’t. 

The kettle had finished boiling, and she distracted herself for a minute or so as she made her tea. But as she returned the milk to the fridge, the phone once more caught her eye. She glanced towards the kitchen door, almost like a child worried at being caught by their mother- and wasn’t there irony there, Jackie realised- before snatching up the phone and thumbing through the contacts. The phone on the other end began to ring.

She balanced the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she fished the teabag out of her mug. She was half-watching the clock out of the corner of her eye, knowing she shouldn’t panic, but unable to help it.

Ever since they’d used that tow truck to rip open the TARDIS, ever since Rose- and that damned blue box- had disappeared from her life, Jackie had been in a state of perpetual half-panic.

Had Rose truly been telling the truth about meeting Pete? It had taken Jackie some time to get her head around it, to accept that Rose wouldn’t make something like that up, but for her to be the person to hold his hand while she was dying? Jackie Tyler was beginning to suspect she didn’t know half of what Rose experienced travelling with the Doctor, and frankly, she didn’t think she wanted to know. 

What sort of life was that for a nineteen year old? To meet her Dad and hold his hand while he died? To have to walk away from him, leave him, already knowing his fate, even before the ambulance arrived? To have to live with that, for the rest of her life, knowing how her Dad died, seeing her Dad die in front of her?

Couldn’t the Doctor have done something?

Rose always said he was impressive. If he was that impressive, couldn’t he have spared Rose that pain? Had she asked to see her father die? Surely not. Jackie was adamant at that. Not her little girl. Not Rose.

She didn’t want her daughter to have gone through that.

Surely the Doctor could have saved him?

“ _Hi, you’ve reached Rose. I can’t answer the phone right now, but- Doctor, stop it! Doctor!_ -”

Jackie rolled her eyes at the giggly message of her daughter’s voice mail, and instead began to leave a message.

“Hiya love, just ringing up to see how you are! And himself, I suppose. Don’t suppose you know when you’ll be back next? Not long till Christmas, you know, an’ I wanted to know how much food to get...” She trailed off, smile fading. There was no one to see it, anyway. “Anyway, just give me a ring when you’re free. Love you.” Almost as a last thought, she added: “Be safe.”

She hung up then, sagging against the kitchen counter, phone still in hand and a drawn expression on her face. She should have expected it, really. There’d been no word, not in the eight days since the TARDIS had vanished. No word from either the Doctor or Rose.

But they were both alright.

Weren’t they?

~0~0~  
Jackie Tyler bit her lip, tapped her foot, stared out the window. The phone against her ear rang and rang and rang. 

The grounds outside were deserted, the stretch of grass that was usually covered with children playing, teenagers smoking, people walking their dog, was entirely empty. The estate didn’t look great at the best of times, but now, when it was so devoid of human life, it looked downright terrifying.

The phone was still ringing. Oh, of course her daughter wouldn’t answer her phone. Of course not. If there was one thing that would distract Rose enough to not answer her phone it was that damn Time Lord. Even more so since he’d changed his face.

“ _Hello! You’ve reached Rose’s phone!_ ”

Jackie frowned at the voice. Instead of her daughter’s, it was the Doctor’s. Cheerful and exuberant, she could practically hear the grin in his voice.

“ _She can’t answer the phone right now, but leave a message after the beep and she’ll probably ring you back. We-ell, I say probably. Maybe. She’ll maybe ring you back. At some point_ -”

She rolled her eyes. Only the Doctor could babble in an answer phone message. But then there was the beep and she was hurrying to leave her message.

“Hello Rose, it’s your Mum,” Jackie announced, and she sounded cheerier than she felt. She surveyed the skies beyond her window a little warily as she spoke, fiddling with her necklace with her free hand. “Sorry to call. I know you’re busy fighting evil lobsters, or something, but when you get this, if you can pop round to Marge’s, in Norwich. You know, Karen’s mum. I’d really appreciate that. We’ve sort of been... We’ve sort of been invaded.” She took a deep breath at that, before once more forcing a cheery tone. “Alright, great! Love you! Speak soon. Bye!”

And as Jackie Tyler ended the call, she glanced worriedly through the window as the alien creatures swept across the Powell Estate.

~0~0~ 

Once she’d returned to the flat, calmed down a little, and recovered from the absolute humiliation that Elton hadn’t been interested in her- 

_and why would he be, the little voice at the back of her mind said. Why would he be interested in you? Look at you. Of course he was only after the Doctor and Rose. Why would anyone show an interest in you?_

-Jackie Tyler knew what she had to do. This man was after the Doctor. He’d had a photo of Rose in his pocket, Jackie had let him into the flat, he’d seen photos of Rose when she was little, postcards she’d brought back from trips with the Doctor, gifts from right across the universe. He wasn’t to be trusted, that much Jackie was sure of, and so she was absolutely certain that what she had to do was call the Doctor and Rose. 

But oh god, what if he’d bugged the flat, like in one of those spy movies? What if he was like James Bond with all those weird little gadgets and hidden cameras and stuff? Did he have a bloke with a computer watching Jackie’s every move? Tapping her phone? Jackie blanched. He hadn’t put a camera in the bathroom, had he? Pervert.

A hurried search of the small bathroom revealed no hidden cameras or microphones, but Jackie did recover two old hair bobbles and some hair clips from down the back of the toilet. God knew how long they’d been there; Jackie was fairly certain they were Rose’s from when she was about fifteen.

But the bathroom checked and the fear of hidden cameras and microphones still fresh in her mind, Jackie Tyler made her way through her flat. Her room- and Rose’s room- seemed to be clean; as did the hallway cupboard (you could never be too careful; she’d seen James Bond. She’d seen the weird gadgets those people had). The kitchen, again, didn’t throw up anything suspicious, although Jackie eyed her washing machine warily. Had he bugged it? Was there a microphone? A tracker? 

She couldn’t move the washing machine to check behind it, though, try as she might, so she decided to hope for the best and assume Elton hadn’t bugged the washing machine. When, finally, she’d pulled every cushion off the sofa and chair too, Jackie finally began to accept that maybe Elton wasn’t a spy.

And then she took in the carnage. The flat was a mess. Things tossed haphazardly everywhere. The mantelpiece cleared of photos and trinkets to check the backs of frames for cameras and microphones, the sofa and chair shoved out of their usual spots to check beneath them. Things from the hallway cupboard in piles up the hallway. 

Jackie let out a shuddering breath and sank into the armchair. Before she really knew what she was doing, the phone was in her hand, grabbed from where she’d left it before Elton had gone for takeaway, and she was dialling Rose’s number.

“ _Hello! You’ve reached Rose’s phone! She can’t answer the phone right now, but leave a message after the beep and she’ll probably ring you back_ -”

When the Doctor’s silly message had finally ended, Jackie drew in a shuddering breath.

“Hiya, sweetheart. I know I only spoke to you a while ago, but I need to speak to you about something. Well,” she took a breath. “I need to speak to the Doctor. You’re not safe, Rose. You an’ him. I’ve... I’ve had a bloke round. Been coming round for weeks. I thought... I thought he liked me. But he had a photo of you, love, and he was after the Doctor.”

She paused, took a moment to steady herself again.

“I saw him off. Told him where to go. But you and the Doctor need to know, because I don’t think he’s working alone. And... And I’m scared. For both of you.” Tears were streaming, unbidden, down her cheeks then. “I don’t know what he wants with either of you, but he was looking for you, and it can’t be good, or he’d have told me. Oh Rose! I’m so sorry! I let him in the flat, invited him round... I thought he liked me-”

And then Jackie’s hysterical message was cut off. She’d used up her time. The answer phone had stopped recording. She swallowed, ending the call and setting the phone down.

~0~0~

Jackie Tyler was pacing the nursery, bouncing her eighteen month old son in her arms as she tried to calm him. But whatever she tried, little Tony wouldn’t calm down. Maybe a different voice, Jackie decided, one that he wasn’t sick of hearing all day every day. She couldn’t phone Pete, he had meetings all day. Mickey was out in the field on an assignment with Jake. But there was always Rose. Tony adored his big sister, although he rarely got to see her.

“Shall we phone your sister?” Jackie asked, forcing an exaggerated smile at the blonde-haired boy in her arms.

The boy’s cries quietened a little, but not by much.

“Shall we phone Rose? Yeah? Shall we?” 

Jackie knew that Rose was at work, most likely working once more on the Dimension Cannon project that no one expected to work. But it was Rose’s pet project, the one thing- save her family, though she’d been distancing herself from them more and more- keeping her sane while locked away in this parallel world. Even if she knew it couldn’t generate enough power to propel her through the Void, Rose still worked on it. Because it gave her hope. Hope that, someday, she might be able to return to the Doctor.

So Jackie pulled her mobile from her pocket, thumbing through the contacts and dialling her daughter’s number. 

As expected, the call went to voice mail. But it didn’t matter. Rose’s voice echoed through the phone’s tiny speakers anyway, and Tony grinned and clapped in excitement.

“ _Hello, you’ve reached Rose Tyler’s phone. I can’t get to the phone right now, but leave a message and I’ll try to get back to you_.”

“Shall we leave your sister a message?” Jackie asked her son, sitting down in the rocking chair before her now-wriggling son could fall.

There was the obligatory bleep, and Jackie hastened to speak.

“Hiya, Rose. Just me and Tony calling. Tony was crying, and wanted to hear your voice. Anyway, it seems to have helped.” 

Jackie paused, glanced at her son, who was reaching for the phone, bellowing “Rose!” at the top of his tiny lungs.

“When will you be round to see him?” Jackie asked before she could stop herself. “He misses you, you know. I know you’re working hard on that project of yours, but it’s not going to go anywhere if you take the afternoon off. You could come round and play with Tony in the garden.” She paused, sounded a little wistful. “I’d like to see you again, sweetheart. I miss you.”

She ended the call then, little Tony bellowing furiously and oblivious to his Mummy’s tears as he once more tried to reach for the phone. He finally managed to pull it from Jackie’s now-limp grip, bringing it to his face and bellowing, once more, “Rose!”

Jackie sighed, smoothing her son’s blonde hair back from his forehead.

“I know how you feel, sweetheart,” she murmured, pressing a kiss to his brow.

~0~0~ 

Jackie Tyler eyed her husband suspiciously as he watched her pace the kitchen. Tony had just been dropped off at nursery, having started four months ago in September. When Jackie had suggested taking their eldest out for a shopping trip, Pete had been oddly quiet, not telling her that it was a good idea, or that Rose had enough holiday time saved up to take a day out from Torchwood, but also not telling her that Rose was busy with the Cannon now it was up and running, or that he couldn’t spare her for the day.

And to top it off, Rose’s phone was ringing out.

“You know what’s going on, don’t you.” Jackie glared at him, phone still at her ear. It wasn’t a question, they both knew that. Jackie Tyler wasn’t stupid, especially when it came to her kids.

“Jacs,” Pete began cautiously, putting his hands out in a placating gesture.

Jackie’s eyes narrowed.

“What’s she done?”

At that, Pete frowned. “What?”

“Rose,” Jackie responded. “What’s she done? What’s happened? Why hasn’t she answered the phone? She’s not scheduled for a jump today, you only ever let her use the Cannon once every three days, ‘cause of that Void stuff. She only jumped two days ago, her next jump’s tomorrow. She’s not even meant to be in work.”

Pete said nothing. Rose’s mobile was still ringing.

“Pete,” Jackie continued, taking a step toward her husband. Her jaw was clenched, eyes blazing with something across between anger and fear.

Pete swallowed. “We think we found the TARDIS.”

Jackie stared at him.

“We found him, Jacs,” he continued softly, and his eyes were damp, she realised. “We found the Doctor.”

_And Rose is gone._

The words hung between them in the tense air, not needing to be spoken aloud, not wanting to be heard.

“When?”

Jackie’s voice was soft, almost inaudible. Terrifyingly calm. Pete watched her carefully.

“First thing this morning,” he admitted.

Jackie nodded. In her ear, the answer phone across London in Rose’s little one-bed flat picked up. Her daughter’s voice rang through her ear like a cruel mockery, a sick and twisted joke.

“ _Hello, you’ve reached Rose. I’m not home right now, so just leave a message_ -”

Like hell she would.

Jackie ended the call with a furious stab of her thumb against the phone, before slamming it onto the breakfast table and sweeping from the room. Pete watched her go nervously, unsure what to say, what to do, if there was any way he could make it alright. 

He didn’t think there was.

And then Jackie was back, standing in the kitchen doorway with her coat on and hands folded over her chest.

“Well come on, then,” Jackie snapped at him as Pete gaped. “What are you waiting for?”

Pete blinked. “Where are we going?”

She rolled her eyes. “To Torchwood. Whatever happens, I’m not letting Rose do this alone.”

“She said not to follow her,” Pete pointed out, although he gathered the car keys anyway. “She didn’t want me, or Mickey, or especially you following her.”

Jackie sniffed. “Tough,” she responded. “I’m her mother. It’s my job to make sure she’s alright.”

He shifted uncomfortably. “Maybe I should go,” he began slowly. “You’re not trained-”

But Jackie scoffed and cut him off. “No chance,” she told him. “It’s your turn to do the nursery run.”

And with that, she swept from the house.


End file.
